Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Gov.-elect Juliana Stratton acknowledge applause on election night. Planning has begun for their inauguration, which Pritzker says he personally will pay for instead of seeking corporate sponsorship or using public money.

STATE

U of I begins major push into autonomous technology

Research into autonomous technology such as self-driving cars and robotic assistants will be the focus of a new center announced by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university has allocated $2.1 million for the Center for Autonomy. The College of Engineering is providing another $2.1 million to recruit new robotics faculty.

The new center will play a role in designing systems that function without human intervention and will provide increased experimental space for autonomy and robotics research.

Pritzker will foot the bill for his inauguration

Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker has formed an inaugural committee that will plan events surrounding the Jan. 14 swearing-in ceremony of himself and Lt. Gov.-elect Juliana Stratton, and the state will not have to pay for it. Pritzker said he will pay the costs. 

Events will begin Jan. 12. The committee will be led by future Illinois first lady M.K. Pritzker and Bryan Echols, who serves as senior adviser to the Illinois treasurer. The executive director will be Mary Urbina-McCarthy, who was operations director for Pritzker’s campaign. The committee is made up of more than two dozen political and civic leaders. They include former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife Brenda and Chicago artist and professor Theaster Gates.

Details of the inaugural events will be put on the inauguration committee’s website, ilinauguration19.com. It will include a schedule of events and a ticket portal.

Because Pritzker will cover the cost of the inauguration, there will be no outside fundraising to underwrite costs of inauguration events. Tickets to a Jan. 14 party following the inauguration ceremony will be sold and the money donated to Cabrini Green Legal Aid, a group that helps low-income Chicagoans navigate the criminal justice system, and the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, which is trying to repair the crumbling fairgrounds. Tickets for the inauguration itself are free, and will be available Dec. 28.

EUREKA

Registration is open for babies’ story times

Registration is open for a winter Baby Bookworms story time series for babies up to 18 months. Babies and their caregivers will enjoy stories, songs and more at the Eureka Public Library District, 202 S. Main St. Starting Jan. 2, Baby Bookworms will be available on the first and third Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. through May. Sign up for either Wednesday or Thursday morning sessions. Space is limited; call the library at 309- 467-2922 to register.

METAMORA

Donate food, get a break on library fines

The Illinois Prairie District Public Library, 208 E. Partridge St., Metamora, will give scofflaws a break on late book fines if they pay up with canned food. The library is collecting Food For Fines through Dec. 22. Up to $1 in fines will be removed for each unperishable food item that is donated. Collected food will be donated to the Metamora Food Pantry.

The library hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday, 10 am.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 2-7 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 309-367-4594.

–Woodford County News Briefs–